Racial tensions have been recurring phenomena deeply embedded in New York City's past, as they have been in American history in general. Among others, there were significant protests in Harlem in ...
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Racial tensions have been recurring phenomena deeply embedded in New York City's past, as they have been in American history in general. Among others, there were significant protests in Harlem in 1935 and again in 1943 that prefigured the types of ghetto revolts that would come to be characteristic in other cities in the late 1960s. These culminated in the 1964 Harlem riot that spread almost instantaneously to the city's “Second Ghetto” in Brooklyn, Bedford-Stuyvesant. The immediate casus belli of the 1935 Harlem riot was when a sixteen-year-old boy was apprehended and accused of stealing a penknife from Kress's variety store on the busy commercial thoroughfare of 125th Street in Harlem. The immediate casus belli of the 1943 Harlem revolt was an altercation between a white policeman and a female black client at a local hotel.Less

The Harlem Revolts of 1935 and 1943

Janet L. Abu-Lughod

Published in print: 2007-09-10

Racial tensions have been recurring phenomena deeply embedded in New York City's past, as they have been in American history in general. Among others, there were significant protests in Harlem in 1935 and again in 1943 that prefigured the types of ghetto revolts that would come to be characteristic in other cities in the late 1960s. These culminated in the 1964 Harlem riot that spread almost instantaneously to the city's “Second Ghetto” in Brooklyn, Bedford-Stuyvesant. The immediate casus belli of the 1935 Harlem riot was when a sixteen-year-old boy was apprehended and accused of stealing a penknife from Kress's variety store on the busy commercial thoroughfare of 125th Street in Harlem. The immediate casus belli of the 1943 Harlem revolt was an altercation between a white policeman and a female black client at a local hotel.

In the 1980s, Malaysia adopted the policy of state‐led Islamization. The ruling UMNO party co‐opted ABIM, fashioned itself as an Islamically oriented party, and adopted many Islamist ideas. The state ...
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In the 1980s, Malaysia adopted the policy of state‐led Islamization. The ruling UMNO party co‐opted ABIM, fashioned itself as an Islamically oriented party, and adopted many Islamist ideas. The state created Islamic institutions, and supported Islamic cultural, political, and economic activities. It used Islamization to expand its power and to penetrate the Malay society. The state also embarked on rapid economic growth to address racial tensions. It used its control of Islam to manage Islamic politics and define Islamic values with a view of economic growth and accommodating globalization.Less

Malaysia, 1981–1997 : Islamization and Capitalist Development

Seyyed Vali Reza Nasr

Published in print: 2001-09-27

In the 1980s, Malaysia adopted the policy of state‐led Islamization. The ruling UMNO party co‐opted ABIM, fashioned itself as an Islamically oriented party, and adopted many Islamist ideas. The state created Islamic institutions, and supported Islamic cultural, political, and economic activities. It used Islamization to expand its power and to penetrate the Malay society. The state also embarked on rapid economic growth to address racial tensions. It used its control of Islam to manage Islamic politics and define Islamic values with a view of economic growth and accommodating globalization.

“Perhaps,” wrote Ralph Ellison more than seventy years ago, “the zoot suit contains profound political meaning; perhaps the symmetrical frenzy of the Lindy-hop conceals clues to great potential ...
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“Perhaps,” wrote Ralph Ellison more than seventy years ago, “the zoot suit contains profound political meaning; perhaps the symmetrical frenzy of the Lindy-hop conceals clues to great potential power.” As Ellison noted then, many of our most mundane cultural forms are larger and more important than they appear, taking on great significance and an unexpected depth of meaning. What he saw in the power of the Lindy Hop—the dance that Life magazine once billed as “America's True National Folk Dance”—would spread from black America to make a lasting impression on white America and offer us a truly compelling means of understanding our culture. But with what hidden implications? This book offers an embedded and embodied ethnography that situates dance within a larger Chicago landscape of segregated social practices. Delving into two Chicago dance worlds—the Lindy and Steppin'—it uses a combination of participant-observation and interviews to bring to the surface the racial tension that surrounds white use of black cultural forms. Focusing on new forms of appropriation in an era of multiculturalism, the author underscores the institutionalization of racial disparities and offers insights into the intersection of race and culture in America.Less

American Allegory : Lindy Hop and the Racial Imagination

Black Hawk Hancock

Published in print: 2013-05-30

“Perhaps,” wrote Ralph Ellison more than seventy years ago, “the zoot suit contains profound political meaning; perhaps the symmetrical frenzy of the Lindy-hop conceals clues to great potential power.” As Ellison noted then, many of our most mundane cultural forms are larger and more important than they appear, taking on great significance and an unexpected depth of meaning. What he saw in the power of the Lindy Hop—the dance that Life magazine once billed as “America's True National Folk Dance”—would spread from black America to make a lasting impression on white America and offer us a truly compelling means of understanding our culture. But with what hidden implications? This book offers an embedded and embodied ethnography that situates dance within a larger Chicago landscape of segregated social practices. Delving into two Chicago dance worlds—the Lindy and Steppin'—it uses a combination of participant-observation and interviews to bring to the surface the racial tension that surrounds white use of black cultural forms. Focusing on new forms of appropriation in an era of multiculturalism, the author underscores the institutionalization of racial disparities and offers insights into the intersection of race and culture in America.

Chapter Three examines the University of Chicago’s Committee on Education, Training, and Research in Race Relations (CETRRR), which sociologist Louis Wirth established in 1947 to produce and ...
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Chapter Three examines the University of Chicago’s Committee on Education, Training, and Research in Race Relations (CETRRR), which sociologist Louis Wirth established in 1947 to produce and disseminate research on race relations. Although the university’s sociology department had been the institutional home of Robert Park’s social ecology, the leading systemic approach to race relations in the 1920s and 1930s, concern with prejudice and the interpersonal sources of racial tensions received considerable attention at CETRRR between 1947 and 1952. Nonetheless, arguments over the relationship between white attitudes and the “general situation” in which race relations developed divided CETRRR researchers. These debates emerged forcefully in both discussions of a “tension barometer,” a survey research instrument intended to predict urban racial violence before it occurred, and in CETRRR affiliates’ efforts to promote better race relations in the Chicago Public Schools. However, both methodological considerations associated with the refining of individualistic survey research techniques and reformist concerns related to preventing wartime racial violence discouraged critics of racial individualism from elaborating alternative approaches.Less

The Individual and the “General Situation” : Defining the Race Problem at the University of Chicago’s Committee on Education, Training, and Research in Race Relations

Leah N. Gordon

Published in print: 2015-05-20

Chapter Three examines the University of Chicago’s Committee on Education, Training, and Research in Race Relations (CETRRR), which sociologist Louis Wirth established in 1947 to produce and disseminate research on race relations. Although the university’s sociology department had been the institutional home of Robert Park’s social ecology, the leading systemic approach to race relations in the 1920s and 1930s, concern with prejudice and the interpersonal sources of racial tensions received considerable attention at CETRRR between 1947 and 1952. Nonetheless, arguments over the relationship between white attitudes and the “general situation” in which race relations developed divided CETRRR researchers. These debates emerged forcefully in both discussions of a “tension barometer,” a survey research instrument intended to predict urban racial violence before it occurred, and in CETRRR affiliates’ efforts to promote better race relations in the Chicago Public Schools. However, both methodological considerations associated with the refining of individualistic survey research techniques and reformist concerns related to preventing wartime racial violence discouraged critics of racial individualism from elaborating alternative approaches.

This chapter begins with an examination of the 1960s, and looks at heightened concerns about urban unrest following the riots at Notting Hill and in Nottingham. Each event created further concerns ...
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This chapter begins with an examination of the 1960s, and looks at heightened concerns about urban unrest following the riots at Notting Hill and in Nottingham. Each event created further concerns for White Britons, who nervously studied the increasing racial tensions on city streets, yet these events encouraged West Indians to speak out even more about programming issues and hiring practices within the BBC. Soon after, the Second Coloured Conference at Broadcasting House allowed management to meet with African-Caribbean community leaders about planned television programmes and their potential impact. Critical analyses of racially themed BBC television programming in the 1960s and 1970s includes Till Death Us Do Part (BBC, 1965–68, 1972–75), Rainbow City (BBC, 1967) and the iconic Empire Road (BBC, 1978–79), one of the first BBC ‘soaps’ to feature a first- and second-generation Black British family attempting to navigate life in an English urban setting. The Community Relations Commission was important in providing a voice for West Indians, included recruitment efforts at the BBC for African-Caribbean employees, much to the dismay of the dominant press.Less

Voices of contention and BBC programming

Darrell M. Newton

Published in print: 2011-10-31

This chapter begins with an examination of the 1960s, and looks at heightened concerns about urban unrest following the riots at Notting Hill and in Nottingham. Each event created further concerns for White Britons, who nervously studied the increasing racial tensions on city streets, yet these events encouraged West Indians to speak out even more about programming issues and hiring practices within the BBC. Soon after, the Second Coloured Conference at Broadcasting House allowed management to meet with African-Caribbean community leaders about planned television programmes and their potential impact. Critical analyses of racially themed BBC television programming in the 1960s and 1970s includes Till Death Us Do Part (BBC, 1965–68, 1972–75), Rainbow City (BBC, 1967) and the iconic Empire Road (BBC, 1978–79), one of the first BBC ‘soaps’ to feature a first- and second-generation Black British family attempting to navigate life in an English urban setting. The Community Relations Commission was important in providing a voice for West Indians, included recruitment efforts at the BBC for African-Caribbean employees, much to the dismay of the dominant press.

Chapter 8 concentrates on how MACV assessed the organizational effectiveness of U.S. Army units serving in Vietnam in 1970. Did officers sense there had been a deterioration of combat effectiveness ...
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Chapter 8 concentrates on how MACV assessed the organizational effectiveness of U.S. Army units serving in Vietnam in 1970. Did officers sense there had been a deterioration of combat effectiveness over time? Much of the Vietnam War historiography comments on the supposed deterioration of troop performance due to drug use, racial tension, and a breakdown in discipline. This chapter investigates how MACV measured such performance. It further asks if it was even feasible for the U.S. Army to withdraw from Vietnam while simultaneously maintaining its overall combat effectiveness.Less

Soldiers’ Interlude: The Symptoms of Withdrawal

Gregory A. Daddis

Published in print: 2011-05-26

Chapter 8 concentrates on how MACV assessed the organizational effectiveness of U.S. Army units serving in Vietnam in 1970. Did officers sense there had been a deterioration of combat effectiveness over time? Much of the Vietnam War historiography comments on the supposed deterioration of troop performance due to drug use, racial tension, and a breakdown in discipline. This chapter investigates how MACV measured such performance. It further asks if it was even feasible for the U.S. Army to withdraw from Vietnam while simultaneously maintaining its overall combat effectiveness.

This chapter uses the 2008 election of President Barack Obama to examine racial tensions and divisions present in memory, both between and within black and white Americans. P. J. Brendese’s study of ...
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This chapter uses the 2008 election of President Barack Obama to examine racial tensions and divisions present in memory, both between and within black and white Americans. P. J. Brendese’s study of Baldwin addresses the political implications of segregated memory in order to dismantle those unconscious barriers preventing the desegregation of history, narrative, and myth. The chapter goes on to expand Baldwin’s views of history; namely, that the past and present are inextricably and forever bound to one another. Utmost emphasis is placed on understanding both individual and societal histories. In order to move forward, a greater collective memory must be rectified, or else the stark divisions present in America’s remembering speak ill of the potential for future progress.Less

The Race of a More Perfect Union : James Baldwin, Segregated Memory, and the Presidential Race

P. J. Brendese

Published in print: 2017-11-15

This chapter uses the 2008 election of President Barack Obama to examine racial tensions and divisions present in memory, both between and within black and white Americans. P. J. Brendese’s study of Baldwin addresses the political implications of segregated memory in order to dismantle those unconscious barriers preventing the desegregation of history, narrative, and myth. The chapter goes on to expand Baldwin’s views of history; namely, that the past and present are inextricably and forever bound to one another. Utmost emphasis is placed on understanding both individual and societal histories. In order to move forward, a greater collective memory must be rectified, or else the stark divisions present in America’s remembering speak ill of the potential for future progress.

This book captures the intensity of the Brooklyn Dodgers' relationship to its community in the 1950s. Ethnic and racial tensions were part and parcel of a working-class borough; the Dodgers' presence ...
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This book captures the intensity of the Brooklyn Dodgers' relationship to its community in the 1950s. Ethnic and racial tensions were part and parcel of a working-class borough; the Dodgers' presence smoothed the rough edges of ghetto conflict always present in Brooklyn. The Dodger-inspired baseball program provided a path for boys that occasionally led to the prestigious Dodger Rookie Team, and sometimes, via minor-league contracts, to Ebbets Field itself. Women were tied to the Dodgers no less than their husbands, fathers, brothers, and sons, but they were less visible. A few, such as Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Marianne Moore and working-class super-fan Hilda Chester, were regulars at Ebbets Field and far from invisible. The author explores the underside of the Dodgers—the “baseball Annies,” and the paternity suits that went with the territory. The Dodgers' male culture was played out in the team's politics, in the owners' manipulation of Dodger male egos, opponents' race-baiting, and the macho bravado of the team (how Jackie Robinson, for instance, would prod Giants' catcher Sal Yvars to impotent rage by signaling him when he was going to steal second base, then taunting him from second after the steal). The day in 1957 when Walter OʼMalley, the owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers, announced that the team would be leaving for Los Angeles was one of the worst moments in baseball history, and a sad day in Brooklyn's history as well.Less

Brooklyn's Dodgers : The Bums, the Borough, and the Best of Baseball, 1947–1957

Carl E. Prince

Published in print: 1998-01-29

This book captures the intensity of the Brooklyn Dodgers' relationship to its community in the 1950s. Ethnic and racial tensions were part and parcel of a working-class borough; the Dodgers' presence smoothed the rough edges of ghetto conflict always present in Brooklyn. The Dodger-inspired baseball program provided a path for boys that occasionally led to the prestigious Dodger Rookie Team, and sometimes, via minor-league contracts, to Ebbets Field itself. Women were tied to the Dodgers no less than their husbands, fathers, brothers, and sons, but they were less visible. A few, such as Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Marianne Moore and working-class super-fan Hilda Chester, were regulars at Ebbets Field and far from invisible. The author explores the underside of the Dodgers—the “baseball Annies,” and the paternity suits that went with the territory. The Dodgers' male culture was played out in the team's politics, in the owners' manipulation of Dodger male egos, opponents' race-baiting, and the macho bravado of the team (how Jackie Robinson, for instance, would prod Giants' catcher Sal Yvars to impotent rage by signaling him when he was going to steal second base, then taunting him from second after the steal). The day in 1957 when Walter OʼMalley, the owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers, announced that the team would be leaving for Los Angeles was one of the worst moments in baseball history, and a sad day in Brooklyn's history as well.

This chapter examines the civil rights era at Cornell University, with particular emphasis on the issue of race. The civil rights era at Cornell began in April 1961, when Martin Luther King Jr. urged ...
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This chapter examines the civil rights era at Cornell University, with particular emphasis on the issue of race. The civil rights era at Cornell began in April 1961, when Martin Luther King Jr. urged white Cornell students to join the “freedom riders” that summer at sit-ins at segregated facilities in Mississippi. A month after King's visit, a substantial number of Cornell students joined forces with students from Ithaca College and Ithaca High School to picket the Greyhound Bus terminal, demanding that the company desegregate its facilities in the South. Cornell's new president, James Perkins, believed that the school should involve itself in the civil rights struggle. This chapter discusses the ways Cornell showed its concern with race and addressed the issue of racism, such as increasing the number of Afro-American graduate students. It considers the racial tension at Cornell and how James Turner, director of the Afro-American Studies Center and an associate professor of Afro-American studies, helped usher in a new era of racial politics at the university.Less

Race at Cornell

Glenn C. AltschulerIsaac Kramnick

Published in print: 2014-07-31

This chapter examines the civil rights era at Cornell University, with particular emphasis on the issue of race. The civil rights era at Cornell began in April 1961, when Martin Luther King Jr. urged white Cornell students to join the “freedom riders” that summer at sit-ins at segregated facilities in Mississippi. A month after King's visit, a substantial number of Cornell students joined forces with students from Ithaca College and Ithaca High School to picket the Greyhound Bus terminal, demanding that the company desegregate its facilities in the South. Cornell's new president, James Perkins, believed that the school should involve itself in the civil rights struggle. This chapter discusses the ways Cornell showed its concern with race and addressed the issue of racism, such as increasing the number of Afro-American graduate students. It considers the racial tension at Cornell and how James Turner, director of the Afro-American Studies Center and an associate professor of Afro-American studies, helped usher in a new era of racial politics at the university.

This book provides an institutional case study of the BBC Television Service, as it undertook the responsibility of creating programmes that addressed the impact of black Britons, their attempts to ...
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This book provides an institutional case study of the BBC Television Service, as it undertook the responsibility of creating programmes that addressed the impact of black Britons, their attempts to establish citizenship within England and subsequent issues of race relations and colour prejudice. Beginning in the 1930s and into the post millennium, the book provides a historical analysis of policies invoked, and practices undertaken, as the Service attempted to assist white Britons in understanding the impact of African-Caribbeans on their lives, and their assimilation into constructs of Britishness. Management soon approved talks and scientific studies as a means of examining racial tensions, as ITV challenged the discourses of British broadcasting. Soon after, BBC 2 began broadcasting, and more issues of race appeared on the TV screens, each reflecting sometimes comedic, somewhat dystopic, often problematic circumstances of integration. In the years that followed, however, social tensions, such as those demonstrated by the Nottingham and Notting Hill riots, led to transmissions that included a series of news specials on Britain's Colour Bar, and docudramas, such as A Man From the Sun, which attempted to frame the immigrant experience for British television audiences, but from the African-Caribbean point of view. Subsequent chapters include an extensive analysis of television programming, along with personal interviews. Topics include current representations of race, the future of British television, and its impact upon multiethnic audiences. Also detailed are the efforts of Black Britons working within the British media as employees of the BBC, writers, producers and actors.Less

Paving the Empire Road : BBC Television and West Indian Immigration

Darrell M. Newton

Published in print: 2011-10-31

This book provides an institutional case study of the BBC Television Service, as it undertook the responsibility of creating programmes that addressed the impact of black Britons, their attempts to establish citizenship within England and subsequent issues of race relations and colour prejudice. Beginning in the 1930s and into the post millennium, the book provides a historical analysis of policies invoked, and practices undertaken, as the Service attempted to assist white Britons in understanding the impact of African-Caribbeans on their lives, and their assimilation into constructs of Britishness. Management soon approved talks and scientific studies as a means of examining racial tensions, as ITV challenged the discourses of British broadcasting. Soon after, BBC 2 began broadcasting, and more issues of race appeared on the TV screens, each reflecting sometimes comedic, somewhat dystopic, often problematic circumstances of integration. In the years that followed, however, social tensions, such as those demonstrated by the Nottingham and Notting Hill riots, led to transmissions that included a series of news specials on Britain's Colour Bar, and docudramas, such as A Man From the Sun, which attempted to frame the immigrant experience for British television audiences, but from the African-Caribbean point of view. Subsequent chapters include an extensive analysis of television programming, along with personal interviews. Topics include current representations of race, the future of British television, and its impact upon multiethnic audiences. Also detailed are the efforts of Black Britons working within the British media as employees of the BBC, writers, producers and actors.

This chapter focuses on the role played by the United States, Great Britain and the Second World War in the formation of the Federation of West Indies. From the start of the Second World War, the ...
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This chapter focuses on the role played by the United States, Great Britain and the Second World War in the formation of the Federation of West Indies. From the start of the Second World War, the Americans started to evince their interest in the British West Indies for its strategic importance and favoured political reforms and economic improvements. The British were also increasingly fearful of West Indian loyalty against the backdrop of Nazi Germany taking advantage of the inherent racial tensions in the British Caribbean. After the end of the war, both British and American efforts clearly backed the independence of the British Caribbean colonies and the formation of a West Indies Federation as the best bulwark against Communism. Although the Federation was launched in 1958, the inability to achieve consensus on issues such as location of the Federation's capital, migration and the free movement of labour and the ambitions of individual islands' leaders finally led to its dissolution of the Federation.Less

From diffidence to desperation: the British, the Americans, the War and the move to Federation

Mary Chamberlain

Published in print: 2010-08-02

This chapter focuses on the role played by the United States, Great Britain and the Second World War in the formation of the Federation of West Indies. From the start of the Second World War, the Americans started to evince their interest in the British West Indies for its strategic importance and favoured political reforms and economic improvements. The British were also increasingly fearful of West Indian loyalty against the backdrop of Nazi Germany taking advantage of the inherent racial tensions in the British Caribbean. After the end of the war, both British and American efforts clearly backed the independence of the British Caribbean colonies and the formation of a West Indies Federation as the best bulwark against Communism. Although the Federation was launched in 1958, the inability to achieve consensus on issues such as location of the Federation's capital, migration and the free movement of labour and the ambitions of individual islands' leaders finally led to its dissolution of the Federation.

This chapter advances the view that Leaguers, although also perceiving unions as vehicles through which Afro-American workers' wages could be improved, conceived of the union movement as a means of ...
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This chapter advances the view that Leaguers, although also perceiving unions as vehicles through which Afro-American workers' wages could be improved, conceived of the union movement as a means of reorganizing the lives of Afro-American workers while simultaneously promoting racial amity. In particular, many Urban Leaguers believed that Afro-Americans' involvement with unions could enhance job performance, reduce racial tensions, and fortify black workers' commitment to mainstream political institutions. Ultimately, these three principles influenced the League's desire to affiliate with the American Federation of Labor (AFL) and the union movement in general, and are thus essential to understanding both the Urban League's work with unions and its efforts to adjust black workers to urban life.Less

. Labor Unions, Social Reorganization, and the Acculturation of Black Workers, 1910–1932

Touré F. Reed

Published in print: 2008-09-01

This chapter advances the view that Leaguers, although also perceiving unions as vehicles through which Afro-American workers' wages could be improved, conceived of the union movement as a means of reorganizing the lives of Afro-American workers while simultaneously promoting racial amity. In particular, many Urban Leaguers believed that Afro-Americans' involvement with unions could enhance job performance, reduce racial tensions, and fortify black workers' commitment to mainstream political institutions. Ultimately, these three principles influenced the League's desire to affiliate with the American Federation of Labor (AFL) and the union movement in general, and are thus essential to understanding both the Urban League's work with unions and its efforts to adjust black workers to urban life.

Chapter 8 describes the dispute which led to the general strike of 1958. A government-appointed Airports Board, which controlled parking regulations at the airport, agreed on a “franchise” project ...
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Chapter 8 describes the dispute which led to the general strike of 1958. A government-appointed Airports Board, which controlled parking regulations at the airport, agreed on a “franchise” project whereby a local bus company and meter –taxi firm, owned by a British resident but controlled by Bay Street representatives, would be given franchises to convey passengers between the airport and hotels. Large areas of parking space would be allocated for franchise operators. This was resented by the Taxi-Cab Union (comprising black independent taxi-drivers and owners) as unfair competition by wealthy Bay Street merchants. The plan involved an increase in the seating capacity of hotel vehicles that would exclude the Taxi Cab Union. On the morning of 2 November 1957, when the new airport opened for traffic, the Taxi Cab Union led by Clifford Darling, blockaded all roads from the airport. The demonstration was supported by the PLP and the Bahamas Federation of Labour (BFL). Negotiations between the parties failed, and on Sunday, 12 January 1958, the general strike began. Hotels closed, racial tensions ran high, and troops were called in. By 21 January 1958, the tourist trade had come to a standstill, negatively affecting the local economy. An important milestone in the aftermath of the strike is British secretary of state Alan Lennox-Boyd’s visit to the Bahamas, which led to electoral reforms and improvements in education and medical services for all Bahamians, black and white, male and female. Chapter 8 also explores the Bahamas’ racially charged women’s suffrage movement, established in 1957, which had its origins in the emerging black middle class of Over-the Hill Nassau.Less

The 1958 General Strike and Its Aftermath

Gail Saunders

Published in print: 2016-06-14

Chapter 8 describes the dispute which led to the general strike of 1958. A government-appointed Airports Board, which controlled parking regulations at the airport, agreed on a “franchise” project whereby a local bus company and meter –taxi firm, owned by a British resident but controlled by Bay Street representatives, would be given franchises to convey passengers between the airport and hotels. Large areas of parking space would be allocated for franchise operators. This was resented by the Taxi-Cab Union (comprising black independent taxi-drivers and owners) as unfair competition by wealthy Bay Street merchants. The plan involved an increase in the seating capacity of hotel vehicles that would exclude the Taxi Cab Union. On the morning of 2 November 1957, when the new airport opened for traffic, the Taxi Cab Union led by Clifford Darling, blockaded all roads from the airport. The demonstration was supported by the PLP and the Bahamas Federation of Labour (BFL). Negotiations between the parties failed, and on Sunday, 12 January 1958, the general strike began. Hotels closed, racial tensions ran high, and troops were called in. By 21 January 1958, the tourist trade had come to a standstill, negatively affecting the local economy. An important milestone in the aftermath of the strike is British secretary of state Alan Lennox-Boyd’s visit to the Bahamas, which led to electoral reforms and improvements in education and medical services for all Bahamians, black and white, male and female. Chapter 8 also explores the Bahamas’ racially charged women’s suffrage movement, established in 1957, which had its origins in the emerging black middle class of Over-the Hill Nassau.

This chapter examines how the issue of ethnic studies at Cornell University evolved into a component of what came to be known as “multiculturalism” or “identity politics.” It considers how Cornell ...
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This chapter examines how the issue of ethnic studies at Cornell University evolved into a component of what came to be known as “multiculturalism” or “identity politics.” It considers how Cornell responded to students' requests for various ethnic studies programs. It shows that identity politics became a fact of life at Cornell during the tenure of Frank H. T. Rhodes; ethnic studies programs proliferated and “black” residence halls and affirmative action were hotly debated. Partisans of identity politics, who viewed themselves as victims of oppression, demanded opportunities to learn about and celebrate their history and heritage, and safe, secure, and separate spaces for members of their group. In time, their numbers included African Americans, Asian Americans, Latinos, Native Americans, women, and gays, as well as some “white ethnics” (including Jewish, Irish, and Italian Americans). This chapter also discusses the attitudes of students toward identity politics, along with the existence of racial tension on campus.Less

Academic Identity Politics

Glenn C. AltschulerIsaac Kramnick

Published in print: 2014-07-31

This chapter examines how the issue of ethnic studies at Cornell University evolved into a component of what came to be known as “multiculturalism” or “identity politics.” It considers how Cornell responded to students' requests for various ethnic studies programs. It shows that identity politics became a fact of life at Cornell during the tenure of Frank H. T. Rhodes; ethnic studies programs proliferated and “black” residence halls and affirmative action were hotly debated. Partisans of identity politics, who viewed themselves as victims of oppression, demanded opportunities to learn about and celebrate their history and heritage, and safe, secure, and separate spaces for members of their group. In time, their numbers included African Americans, Asian Americans, Latinos, Native Americans, women, and gays, as well as some “white ethnics” (including Jewish, Irish, and Italian Americans). This chapter also discusses the attitudes of students toward identity politics, along with the existence of racial tension on campus.

Chapter 10 discusses Darwin’s evolving views on sexual selection in a period of mounting racial and sexual tension in which a heightened sense of national identity reinforced the racial and gender ...
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Chapter 10 discusses Darwin’s evolving views on sexual selection in a period of mounting racial and sexual tension in which a heightened sense of national identity reinforced the racial and gender superiority of the white middle-class male. It examines how Darwin drew upon the writings of the new racial determinists, notably the race theorist Robert Knox and the polygenists Josiah Nott and George Gliddon, in reaffirming his earlier Lawrence-derived thesis of an aesthetic factor in the differentiation of gender, class and race and discusses the relation of Darwin’s pigeon keeping to this.Less

Critical Years: From Pigeons to People

Evelleen Richards

Published in print: 2017-04-27

Chapter 10 discusses Darwin’s evolving views on sexual selection in a period of mounting racial and sexual tension in which a heightened sense of national identity reinforced the racial and gender superiority of the white middle-class male. It examines how Darwin drew upon the writings of the new racial determinists, notably the race theorist Robert Knox and the polygenists Josiah Nott and George Gliddon, in reaffirming his earlier Lawrence-derived thesis of an aesthetic factor in the differentiation of gender, class and race and discusses the relation of Darwin’s pigeon keeping to this.

Situated on the banks of the Ohio River, Louisville, Kentucky, represents a cultural and geographical intersection of North and South. Throughout its history, Louisville has simultaneously displayed ...
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Situated on the banks of the Ohio River, Louisville, Kentucky, represents a cultural and geographical intersection of North and South. Throughout its history, Louisville has simultaneously displayed northern and southern characteristics in its race relations. In their struggles against racial injustice in the mid-twentieth century, activists in Louisville crossed racial, economic, and political dividing lines to form a wide array of alliances not seen in other cities of its size. This book provides the first comprehensive look at the distinctive elements of Louisville's civil rights movement. The book frames the analysis by defining a border as a space where historical patterns and social concerns overlap. From this vantage point, it argues that broad coalitions of Louisvillians waged long-term, interconnected battles during the city's civil rights movement. It shows that Louisville's border city dynamics influenced both its racial tensions and its citizens' approaches to change. Unlike African Americans in southern cities, Louisville's black citizens did not face entrenched restrictions against voting and other forms of civic engagement. Louisville schools were integrated relatively peacefully in 1956, long before their counterparts in the Deep South. However, the city bore the marks of Jim Crow segregation in public accommodations until the 1960s. Louisville joined other southern cities that were feeling the heat of racial tensions, primarily during open housing and busing conflicts (more commonly seen in the North) in the late 1960s and 1970s. In response to Louisville's unique blend of racial problems, activists employed northern models of voter mobilization and lobbying, as well as methods of civil disobedience usually seen in the South.Less

Civil Rights in the Gateway to the South : Louisville, Kentucky, 1945-1980

Tracy E. K'Meyer

Published in print: 2009-04-16

Situated on the banks of the Ohio River, Louisville, Kentucky, represents a cultural and geographical intersection of North and South. Throughout its history, Louisville has simultaneously displayed northern and southern characteristics in its race relations. In their struggles against racial injustice in the mid-twentieth century, activists in Louisville crossed racial, economic, and political dividing lines to form a wide array of alliances not seen in other cities of its size. This book provides the first comprehensive look at the distinctive elements of Louisville's civil rights movement. The book frames the analysis by defining a border as a space where historical patterns and social concerns overlap. From this vantage point, it argues that broad coalitions of Louisvillians waged long-term, interconnected battles during the city's civil rights movement. It shows that Louisville's border city dynamics influenced both its racial tensions and its citizens' approaches to change. Unlike African Americans in southern cities, Louisville's black citizens did not face entrenched restrictions against voting and other forms of civic engagement. Louisville schools were integrated relatively peacefully in 1956, long before their counterparts in the Deep South. However, the city bore the marks of Jim Crow segregation in public accommodations until the 1960s. Louisville joined other southern cities that were feeling the heat of racial tensions, primarily during open housing and busing conflicts (more commonly seen in the North) in the late 1960s and 1970s. In response to Louisville's unique blend of racial problems, activists employed northern models of voter mobilization and lobbying, as well as methods of civil disobedience usually seen in the South.

This chapter focuses on the climate of fear that plagued society in the 1980s. These fears, including fear of national decline, of enemies abroad, of dangerous classes at home, lay behind Reaganism’s ...
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This chapter focuses on the climate of fear that plagued society in the 1980s. These fears, including fear of national decline, of enemies abroad, of dangerous classes at home, lay behind Reaganism’s positive and optimistic messages of an American revival. The foreign threats, in the Reaganite view, were Communists and terrorists. Anxieties over violence, violation, and disorder were often strongly racialized. White Americans generally associated this threat closely with cities and with black Americans. Many African Americans, and sometimes members of other racial minority groups, also lived in dread of violence from government authorities and vigilantes. While America’s political elites, from Reagan downward, did not create the climate of racial fear and tension in the 1980s, they did little to stem the toxic tides of fear and anger, and may have contributed to them responding crudely and opportunistically—sometimes on a strongly bipartisan basis—to public concerns about crime and disorder.Less

Days of Fear

Doug Rossinow

Published in print: 2015-02-17

This chapter focuses on the climate of fear that plagued society in the 1980s. These fears, including fear of national decline, of enemies abroad, of dangerous classes at home, lay behind Reaganism’s positive and optimistic messages of an American revival. The foreign threats, in the Reaganite view, were Communists and terrorists. Anxieties over violence, violation, and disorder were often strongly racialized. White Americans generally associated this threat closely with cities and with black Americans. Many African Americans, and sometimes members of other racial minority groups, also lived in dread of violence from government authorities and vigilantes. While America’s political elites, from Reagan downward, did not create the climate of racial fear and tension in the 1980s, they did little to stem the toxic tides of fear and anger, and may have contributed to them responding crudely and opportunistically—sometimes on a strongly bipartisan basis—to public concerns about crime and disorder.

Derided for its conformity and consumerism, 1950s America paid a price in anxiety. Prosperity existed under the shadow of a mushroom cloud. Optimism wore a Bucky Beaver smile that masked worry over ...
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Derided for its conformity and consumerism, 1950s America paid a price in anxiety. Prosperity existed under the shadow of a mushroom cloud. Optimism wore a Bucky Beaver smile that masked worry over threats at home and abroad. But even dread could not quell the revolutionary changes taking place in virtually every form of mainstream music. This book sheds light on how the Fifties' pervasive moods affected its sounds. Moving across genres established (pop, country, opera, experimental, rock, jazz) the book delves into the social dynamics that caused forms to emerge or recede, thrive or fade away. Red scares and white flight, sexual politics and racial tensions, technological progress and demographic upheaval—the influence of each rooted the music of this volatile period to its specific place and time. Yet this book also reveals the host of underlying connections linking that most apprehensive of times to our own uneasy present.Less

Music in the Age of Anxiety : American Music in the Fifties

James Wierzbicki

Published in print: 2016-02-15

Derided for its conformity and consumerism, 1950s America paid a price in anxiety. Prosperity existed under the shadow of a mushroom cloud. Optimism wore a Bucky Beaver smile that masked worry over threats at home and abroad. But even dread could not quell the revolutionary changes taking place in virtually every form of mainstream music. This book sheds light on how the Fifties' pervasive moods affected its sounds. Moving across genres established (pop, country, opera, experimental, rock, jazz) the book delves into the social dynamics that caused forms to emerge or recede, thrive or fade away. Red scares and white flight, sexual politics and racial tensions, technological progress and demographic upheaval—the influence of each rooted the music of this volatile period to its specific place and time. Yet this book also reveals the host of underlying connections linking that most apprehensive of times to our own uneasy present.

This chapter examines those works of Baldwin’s, both fiction and nonfiction, which are concerned with American citizenship and its complicity with a growing sense of a fractured nationality, reaching ...
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This chapter examines those works of Baldwin’s, both fiction and nonfiction, which are concerned with American citizenship and its complicity with a growing sense of a fractured nationality, reaching beyond explicit white and black racial tension. This work also incorporates Baldwin’s internationalism, exploring his frequent choice to reside in other countries. As the essay suggests, Baldwin’s own disconnection from America allowed him to see its internal disconnection more clearly.Less

James Baldwin and the Politics of Disconnection

Susan J. McWilliams

Published in print: 2017-11-15

This chapter examines those works of Baldwin’s, both fiction and nonfiction, which are concerned with American citizenship and its complicity with a growing sense of a fractured nationality, reaching beyond explicit white and black racial tension. This work also incorporates Baldwin’s internationalism, exploring his frequent choice to reside in other countries. As the essay suggests, Baldwin’s own disconnection from America allowed him to see its internal disconnection more clearly.

The Massie–Kahahawai case of 1931–1932 shook the Territory of Hawai’i to its very core. Thalia Massie, a young Navy wife, alleged that she had been kidnapped and raped by “some Hawaiian boys” in ...
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The Massie–Kahahawai case of 1931–1932 shook the Territory of Hawai’i to its very core. Thalia Massie, a young Navy wife, alleged that she had been kidnapped and raped by “some Hawaiian boys” in Waikīkī. A few days later, five young men stood accused of her rape. Mishandling of evidence and contradictory testimony led to a mistrial, but before a second trial could be convened, one of the accused was kidnapped and beaten by a group of Navy men and a second, Joseph Kahahawai, lay dead from a gunshot wound. Thalia’s husband, her mother, and two Navy men were convicted of the lesser charge of manslaughter, despite witnesses who saw them kidnap Kahahawai and the later discovery of his body in Massie’s car. Under pressure from Congress and the Navy, territorial governor Lawrence McCully Judd commuted their sentences. After spending only an hour in the governor’s office at ‘Iolani Palace, the four were set free. This is a close examination of how Native Hawaiians, Asian immigrants, and others responded to challenges posed by the military and federal government during the case’s investigation and aftermath. The book provides a concise account of events as they unfolded, and shows how this historical narrative has been told and retold in later decades to affirm a local identity among descendants of working-class Native Hawaiians, Asians, and others. It looks at the racial and sexual tensions in pre-World War II Hawai’i that kept local men and white women apart and at the uneasy relationship between federal and military officials and territorial administrators.Less

Local Story : The Massie-Kahahawai Case and the Culture of History

John P. Rosa

Published in print: 2014-08-31

The Massie–Kahahawai case of 1931–1932 shook the Territory of Hawai’i to its very core. Thalia Massie, a young Navy wife, alleged that she had been kidnapped and raped by “some Hawaiian boys” in Waikīkī. A few days later, five young men stood accused of her rape. Mishandling of evidence and contradictory testimony led to a mistrial, but before a second trial could be convened, one of the accused was kidnapped and beaten by a group of Navy men and a second, Joseph Kahahawai, lay dead from a gunshot wound. Thalia’s husband, her mother, and two Navy men were convicted of the lesser charge of manslaughter, despite witnesses who saw them kidnap Kahahawai and the later discovery of his body in Massie’s car. Under pressure from Congress and the Navy, territorial governor Lawrence McCully Judd commuted their sentences. After spending only an hour in the governor’s office at ‘Iolani Palace, the four were set free. This is a close examination of how Native Hawaiians, Asian immigrants, and others responded to challenges posed by the military and federal government during the case’s investigation and aftermath. The book provides a concise account of events as they unfolded, and shows how this historical narrative has been told and retold in later decades to affirm a local identity among descendants of working-class Native Hawaiians, Asians, and others. It looks at the racial and sexual tensions in pre-World War II Hawai’i that kept local men and white women apart and at the uneasy relationship between federal and military officials and territorial administrators.